


Remote Shutter

by Lunasticks



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Best DR Couple Dont Question Me, Birthday, F/M, Fluff, Rarepair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:34:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23822389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunasticks/pseuds/Lunasticks
Summary: Mahiru's birthday takes an unexpected turn, when she finds herself alone with Kazuichi on a warm spring night.
Relationships: Koizumi Mahiru/Soda Kazuichi
Comments: 15
Kudos: 65





	Remote Shutter

If there was ever one thing the students residing on Jabberwock knew, it was how to throw a massive party. That was something Mahiru knew for certain. Whenever there was even the slightest cause for celebration, she wouldn’t have to wait long before Ibuki popped up, ready to take charge of the entire thing. Birthdays, holidays, couples being formed, whatever it was, Ibuki was there in a split-second. Following her, Teruteru would eagerly get going on crafting a mouth-watering three course meal for the event, whilst Byakuya made sure Ibuki’s ideas were realistic enough to feasibly do with what they had access to.

Despite there being so many of them, every party seemed to somehow outperform the last. With every celebration, the energy continued to surge, the late-night dancing lasted for longer, and the next-day exhaustion more severe. And while Mahiru wasn’t much of a party person, she enjoyed watching all her friends having fun, snapping some incredible photos in the progress. She especially enjoyed the quieter parts of the nights, where she could sit down, away from the music, and just chat the night away with some tired dancers before the next song could start.

Still, she was quite nervous. The parties were getting rough now, after all. And, well… the next party was her own birthday. How old would she be tomorrow? It struck her as odd that she couldn’t quite clearly remember. Nevertheless, the party planning had already begun. Ibuki had frequently interrupted her quiet personal time to ask mountains of questions about what she wanted for the party. What kind of decorations? What food do you want? Do you want me to serenade you? I just slammed together a banging track called “Damn, The Photographer Caught Me Without My Clothes On!”, here, take a listen!!

It was…exhausting to say the least. As Mahiru went to sleep the night before, she wished for a peaceful party. A bit of dancing for sure, but nothing too wild. Just getting a few party drinks, eating some good food, talking for some time, and then retiring back to bed, hopefully early enough that she wouldn’t feel sluggish the morning after.

And as she was sitting at the table the morning after, set up outside on the beach, a makeshift birthday hat on her head, she very quickly came to the realization that that would not happen.

It was pure chaos. Eating dinner had gone by pretty unspectacularly, as had the birthday song and eating the cake, but by the time night truly took over, the dancing had already descended into madness. Akane and Nekomaru seemed to be fighting as they dance, knocking over chairs, and in some cases, people in the progress. Hiyoko chased after Mikan all over the place, despite promising to Mahiru on several occasions to behave properly. Even those who weren’t full over-the-top weren’t holding back, screaming and shouting and constantly trying to pull her out onto the dance floor. Worst of all was Ibuki, who seemed to be in seven places at once throughout the entire night. While Mahiru had nothing against the musician, she grew increasingly energetic at times like these. And right now, Mahiru didn’t feel like dealing with that kind of thing.

She sat by herself, looking around. She was nearly confident that someone had acquired alcohol, and that it had been passed onto nearly every other person. Who it was and how they got it, she hadn’t the faintest idea of, but it certainly would make her understand why the level of craziness were off the charts.

Fair to say, she was uncomfortable. She thought a couple times about just leaving but found it rude to do so. It’s her party after all…

…Well, maybe if she just left for a bit, no-one’ll notice. They were all probably intoxicated anyways. She’d just pop away from the beach for a bit, clear her head and get some fresh air, so she could survive the rest of the night.

Mahiru slowly popped out of her chair. Whilst making sure no-one saw her, she quietly took her leave, away from the beach, and up onto the grassier plains of the islands. She headed for Hotel Mirai – she seemed to remember a bench being set up right outside. Perfect for catching her breath.

She sat down and sighed deeply, leaning her neck against the back of the bench. Yeah, this felt nice. She closed her eyes. Faintly, in the distance, she could still pick up on the noises from the beach, but they were not enough to knock her out of the small, peaceful trance she was entering. A deep breath followed by another. Calmness. Just what she needed.

“Oi, you sleeping?!”

A loud voice startled Mahiru. She nearly fell off the bench as her arms flailed around her. It took her a second to regain her composure and recognize who had just shouted at her.

“Kazucihi?!”

Standing right over her was the Ultimate Mechanic, Kazuichi Soda. He hadn’t done much to dress up for the party, keeping his usual look of jumpsuit and beanie. He had a confused expression on his face. Mahiru wondered if he seriously did not see the mistake in shouting into the face of a person just trying to rest for a bit.

“Jeez, you scared me! Why would you shout at me, idiot?!”

The way Kazuichi seemed to take offense to that, confirmed Mahiru’s earlier thought.

“Wha- I was worried! You just left the party, I wanted to know what the hell you were doing!” Kazuichi took a second to adjust his hat.

“I wanted to take a break, that’s all!” Mahiru noticed that her voice was still raised, and paused before continuing in a softer tone. If anyone heard them, she’d just have more people to deal with. “Besides, you were all drunk. No-one would notice if I were gone for a few minutes.”

“Well I noticed!” Kazuichi’s words still sounded angry. “I won’t be sorry for caring, y’know.”

Mahiru suspected that he must have felt awkward standing above her like this, as he immediately after plopped down on the bench next to her.

“And I don’t drink, by the way. I don’t know why the others are doing it. We’re not even adults yet!” Kazuichi took a moment to scratch the back of his head.

“You know how most people ask before they sit down next to someone on a bench, Kazuichi?” Mahiru folded her arms and looked away from the mechanic sitting next to her. “Jeez, you’re such a mess…”

Kazuichi shot up at her remark, leaning forward on the bench.

“Wha-! Hey, cut me some slack!” He waited for a moment to see if Mahiru would look at him. Upon realizing she wouldn’t budge, he slumped back down onto the bench. “Man…”

Mahiru felt a little bad. She might’ve gone a bit too harsh on Kazuichi. But then again, he did startle her, so it didn’t feel like her place to apologize. She lowered her arms and looked at him, trying to appear less intimidating. Maybe changing the subject was good for them both.

“You’ve never drank alcohol? Not even tried it?” she asked.

Souda turned around with a slightly surprised look on his face.

“Nah. I wasn’t allowed. I think I might’ve had a tiny sip of whiskey once. I don’t think that counts, though. Hated it so much that I never touched the stuff again.”

It was rare for Mahiru to experience the personal side of Kazuichi. Mainly because he’d always be so energetic that the mere presence of him was enough to piss her off. It was probably a good thing he’d just danced for a long time. She appreciated being able to talk seriously with him.

“What about you, you ever had anything?” Kazuichi looked genuinely interested in learning about her. Something she wasn’t really prepared for. It took her a second before answering.

“Uh… No, nothing at all. Maybe when I get older.” Mahiru caught herself feeling slightly embarrassed by the question. It wasn’t anything incredibly personal, but still something about herself that she had not really talked with anyone about before. And now she was telling it to Kazuichi, of all people. This night couldn’t get weirder if it tried.

Mahiru didn’t hate it though.

“Huh… I guess that’s one thing we might have in common then.” Kazuichi said, leaning back to look at the night sky. Stars were already beginning to shine, a few constellations even being visible. After considering it for a moment, Mahiru did the same. The stars looked incredibly beautiful. There wasn’t a spot on the island that wasn’t good for stargazing. It was something she could do for hours without getting tired of it.

“Wanna know something?” Kazuichi asked, seemingly out of nowhere. Mahiru didn’t answer, figuring he would say what was on his mind regardless. Which he did.

“I don’t really like parties. They’re too loud and I always feel out of place.”

Mahiru wasn’t quite sure if she should answer. Kazuichi was going into some really personal stuff. Might’ve just been because he was tired and didn’t realize it. Still, Mahiru felt like she might accidentally hear something she wasn’t supposed to hear if he continued.

…Well on the other hand, it would probably be better than the awkward silence that was currently filling the empty air. Eh, it’s probably nothing too bad. Mahiru decided to reply.

“Really? You seemed to be doing just fine around Hajime and Chiaki.”

“I guess. But we both know I’ll just be a third wheel soon. There’s no way they’re not getting together soon.”

“I mean, yeah, they kind of are the couple that everyone’s been rooting for… It’s really amazing that they haven’t become a thing yet.”

Kazuichi let out a short laugh.

“Yeah… I hope they’ll still want me around when that happens though.”

Mahiru could swear she heard his voice change, just a little. Slightly sadder. She should probably encourage him a bit.

“I’m sure they will. Hajime wouldn’t just cast you aside like that.”

Mahiru waited for an answer, hoping her words had helped a little bit. It took a few moments, but eventually Kazuichi’s voice sounded again.

“…Yeah. Thanks.”

A creaking sound indicated to Mahiru that Kazuichi had just pushed himself off the bed. She lowered her head to look at him. Before she could say anything, he turned to look at her.

“Give me a sec. Wait here.”

With that, he rushed off. Not towards the party, but back towards Hotel Mirai. Mahiru pondered to herself what he was getting. Her first conclusion was ‘probably something to drink’, and feeling satisfied with that, stopped thinking about it.

Her neck went back again, leaning against the bench so she could look at the stars. She noticed one right above her, glowing brighter than all the one’s around her. She felt almost captivated by it. That star must’ve been several thousand miles away, and yet it still shined so brightly. Mahiru reached out her hand. No matter what she did, she couldn’t touch it.

At that very moment, a second star made itself visible, right next to the one above her. She retracted her arm to have a full, unobscured view of them. How beautiful. If only she had brought her camera with her. Sadly, she had left it at home, when Ibuki demanded that “work-related things shouldn’t be brought to your birthday party, Mahiru!”

Ah, right. It was still her birthday. And it was nearly over. She didn’t know what time it was, but she suspected the end of the day was getting close. She closed her eyes. Had she had a great day? Well, everyone’s intention was surely nice, but in the end, it felt like she’d been almost forgotten in a way. She didn’t mind all too much, she valued her free time. Still, part of her wished that something had happened. Something to make the day more memorable for herself-

“Leaning your neck like that for long is bad for you, dude.”

Once again, Mahiru had successfully been startled as she sat on the bench. This time the voice didn’t come from a person standing in front of her, but instead from behind where she sat.

“Jeez, Kazuichi, did you really just-“

As she turned around, she suddenly stopped as her eyes met the mechanics. Or rather, his hands. In one was her trusty camera. The one she’d been using for days to take photos of her friends all over the island. In the other was… a box. A small brown cardboard box, with a piece of string tied around it. Kind of like… a present.

“Happy birthday, Mahiru.” Kazuichi held the box towards her, gesturing for her to take it. He had a smile on his face, which clearly showed off his shark-like teeth. Mahiru thought of it as one of his defining features, and where she’d originally be annoyed by the mere sight of it, she was too dumbfounded right now to think about it.

“You… You got me a gift?” Mahiru stood up, walking cautiously around the bench, over to Kazuichi. She grabbed the sides of the box, taking it from Kazuichi. It wasn’t heavy at all, but it still felt like something substantial was inside of it.

“It’s the best I could do with what’s here on the island. Hope you like it.”

Kazuichi looked eagerly on as Mahiru carefully placed the box on the ground, not wanting to break anything. She undid the string and opened the box quite easily, which made sense. It’s not like Mahiru had seen actual scotch-tape anywhere, so sealing the box shut was probably harder than necessary. The front flaps on the box went up, and Mahiru reached into it, grabbing a hold of… something.

It felt like a cable of sorts. Mahiru pulled on it, making several feet of cable spill out of the box. At the end of the cable was a small device. She held it in her hand for a little while before realizing that the end of it contained a button. She clicked down on the device, feeling it out. It suddenly hit her what it was.

“This is… a remote shutter, right?” She looked at Kazuichi in shock, who in turn looked very pleased with himself.

“Yep. You plug that thing right there into your camera, you can use it to snap a photo. It’s about 8 feet long, so you can get some distance too.”

Mahiru examinated the cable closely. It definitely wasn’t professionally made, but instead hastily cobbled together out of other machine parts. How Kazuichi had been able to do it, she didn’t know.

“Thank you! This is… this is incredible.” She was more or less at a loss for words.

“You’re welcome! It’s just because I… uh, we all thought about how you always take pictures of us, and never really of yourself. Now you can set up your camera, get in front of it, and take some pics of yourself!”

Kazuichi looked incredibly proud of himself. For once, the shark-tooth grin didn’t really annoy Mahiru. He wasn’t doing it to be obnoxious, he did it because he really did feel happy. In this instance, she thought the smile suited him quite well.

“Wait, where’d you get my camera from?” Mahiru suddenly became suspicious of the mechanic, who became slightly panicked at where he thought Mahiru was heading.

“I-I just asked Ibuki, promise! Wouldn’t dream to sneak into a girl’s room!” Mahiru noticed that Kazuichi’s cheeks got redder as he scrambled to clear himself of suspicion. She gave him a cautious look, but accepted that he probably wasn’t lying. Besides, she could just ask Ibuki later.

“Anyways, wanna test it out?” Kazuichi quickly grabbed the cable and plugged it into the camera. Mahiru watched him rush off, putting the camera on a tripod, which he probably set up before interrupting her stargazing. When everything was set up, he rushed back and handed Mahiru the end of the device with the clickable button.

“You’re the photographer. Make me look good, okay?”

Mahiru nodded and grabbed a hold of the device, as both of them stood side by side, staring down the camera. In fact, it felt like Kazuichi was maybe standing a bit too close.

Time seemed to slow down as Mahiru figured out her own expression for the photo. Her heartbeat suddenly fired out and became louder. She felt nervous for some reason. She looked up at Kazuichi, who very sternly had his eyes focused on the camera. Was he nervous too? It looked like he was breathing a little heavier than usual. His fingers seemed to fidget with his jumpsuit, as he waited for the blitz to go off. Was he worried about if the device wouldn’t work? Was he just exhausted? Mahiru couldn’t tell, but it made her even more nervous.

The moment before the blitz went off felt like it lasted a long time. A million thoughts raced through Mahiru’s head. She was too shocked to think about it before but… this was a gift to her from Kazuichi. A birthday present, given to her from someone she’d scolded in the past. Someone she didn’t see herself connecting with on any level. And yet… There they were. Two outsiders, not engaging in the distant party, which Mahiru had almost forgotten was a party in her honor at this point. She felt like she understood him just a bit better after what had happened. But it was about to come to an end. After this photo, they’d probably head back to the party. He’d rejoin Hajime and Chiaki, and she’d have to try and make good on all the mean things Hiyoko said about others.

For just a brief second, Mahiru wished that the moment would last for a bit longer. That they’d just spend a couple more minutes away from the party. That they’d-

***CLICK!***

Without realizing it, she’d clicked down on the buzzer. The moment was over.

“Let’s check it out!” Kazuichi immediately dashed for the camera. Mahiru followed meekly after.

Kazuichi grabbed the camera and quickly found his way to the picture of the two of them. He pulled his head back, looking at Mahiru, with a slightly shocked expression.

“Wow, uh… You’re… You’re really blushing, huh?”

Mahiru’s eyes widened. She quickly grabbed the camera out of his hand to check for herself.

She was met with the image of herself and Kazuichi. And, yep, there she was, cheeks nearly as red as the hair on her head. She held the camera defensively and took a step back.

“I-I wasn’t blushing! I just… I, uh… W-We’ll take another picture if you don’t like it!”

Kazuichi burst out laughing. Mahiru only felt more and more embarrassed. She’d might just take back everything she just thought.

“It’s a great picture! You really captured my good side, y’know? And you looked pretty good yourself!”

Mahiru held her arms to her side and leaned forward, as she usually did when scolding people.

“Shouldn’t you be getting back to the party? And stop laughing!”

Kazuichi wiped a tear from his eye as his laughter slowly subsided.

“Alright, alright. Hey, I’ll see you over there soon as well, right?”

Mahiru folded her arms and walked past him, over to the camera.

“Sure. Now get going! I need to get all this stuff back to my room first.” Fiddling with the tripod, she looked up to glare at Kazuichi. Kazuichi seemed to understand.

“Alright. Meet you there!”

And with that, the mechanic slowly slipped away, out of sight, heading towards the beach where the others were. Mahiru’s eyes followed him closely until only his silhouette was clear. He’d already surprised her twice that night, she really didn’t want him to come back and do it again.

The box was big enough for her to stuff both the cable and folded-up tripod, while the camera hung from its strap around her shoulder. She carried it over to her room at Hotel Mirai. Quickly, she pushed the box under the desk. When she had more time tomorrow, she could clean it up. For now, it was probably a good idea to get going. She took a single step outside the door, feeling her camera swinging from her shoulder.

Oh right. Ibuki’s orders.

She moved the strap over her head. She almost placed it down on the desk, but paused at the very last second, moving the camera closer instead. The screen still showed the picture of her and Kazuichi, standing side by side. Last time, she was too shocked to properly examine Kazuichi in the photograph. This time, she did. His smile was not fully there, it looked a little weaker than usual. His hands looked even more fidgety than when he was standing next to her, as if he was nervous for some reason. In the moment, she had suspected that it was because he was worried whether or not the mechanism worked, but on this picture…

He wasn’t even looking at the camera. He was looking slightly up, and away from her. And… his cheeks were red. Not as red as her own, but still red. He was blushing.

Mahiru realized she’d been staring at the camera’s screen for a long time now. She quickly shook her head and looked away, coincidentally towards the direction of the mirror hanging above her desk. Her cheeks were burning again. Her breathing and heartbeat were also faster. She shook her head again, then looked back at Kazuichi’s face on the camera screen. Then back into the mirror. Then back at the screen. Then back to the mirror again. Every time, she felt as if she got redder and redder.

Staring at herself in the mirror, Mahiru couldn’t help but smile. A notification sound pinged from her device. She looked down.

**Would you like to add this photo to the “Favorites” folder?**

Mahiru held her breath. Hestiated a bit.

Then let out a short giggle, as she pressed a button on the camera.

**Photo added to Favorites.**

**Author's Note:**

> Best girl's birthday deserves a fic.
> 
> Thanks for reading! I'm happy to do my part in writing more KazuKoi material, wish there was more. Anyways, here's a small contribution at least. Hope you enjoyed.


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